8th Grade Basketball Team Awarded Sportsmanship Trophy

Pictured here are (from left): Coach Darin Deckerd, Marcus Doll, Marcus Bachmann, Garrett Martin, Alex Plunkett, Kaleb Weibrecht, Dane Weibrecht, Jon Pruitt, Devin Hoehn, Trent Green, and Kyle Welch. (Photo by Perry County School Dist. No. 32)

Their record was 4-7 but that isn't what made the Perry County Middle School 8th grade Boys Basketball Team stand out among their peers. The 8th grade boys were awarded the JCAA (Jefferson County Athletic Association) Conference Sportsmanship Award for the 2009-10 basketball season. The selection was made by a vote of the administrators during the conference tournament meeting. The team is coached by PCMS teacher Darin Deckerd. "This year's 8th grade boys basketball team was a hard working group of kids," said Deckerd. "I had the pleasure of coaching them for two years and I was very pleased with their overall progress as a team and with each player individually."

"I am just as proud of these boys as if they had won the championship," said Velda Haertling, Perry County Middle School Principal. "Being a person of good character is something that we promote here at school all the time and displaying good sportsmanship on the court shows that these boys have taken this lesson beyond the classroom. I tell the kids at the beginning of the year that it doesn't matter how many games you win or lose but what kind of role model you are. These boys are a positive role model for the rest of our students and I am very proud of them for showing that to the rest of the community."

Schools participating in the JCAA Conference are: Crystal City, DeSoto, Festus, Grandview, Herculaneum, Hillsboro, Jefferson R-7, Perryville, Sunrise, and Windsor.